2008 MORE or LESS

In 2008, I want to...

• read my Bible more.
• Journal more.
• Take more DAWGS (Days Alone with God).
  
• read more books (my goal 24, with at least 8 being fiction).
• do more walking and biking (and I want to take my daughter with me).
• go on more dates with my wife.
• eat healthy foods more.
• Be more teachable.
• Connect with graduated students more.
• Get out of my office and into students lives more.
• Think and operate globally more.
• Recycle more.
  

In 2008, I also want to:

• Watch TV less.
• Surf the internet less.
• Drink less Mountain Dew and other sodas.
• Eat Fast Food less.
  
• Spend less time in front of the office computer.
• Do less ministry on my own.
  
• Micromanage less.
• Doubt less.
• Worry less.
• Commit to less.
• Spend less on myself.
  

Top 2007

The absolute top of all 2007:

Excessive Damage

As a Christmas gift, Janelle got the Bible I received for my High School Graduation rebound.

This is the first Bible I ever did personal study out of. Most all of my messages have been planned from this Bible. Until 2 years ago when the leather spine fell off, it was the Bible I would preach from.

We went to pick up the newly bound Bible today. IT LOOKS AWESOME. When Janelle went to pay, they informed her that there was an extra charge due to "excessive damage" that had been done to the Bible.

At the risk of sounding arrogant, I was rather proud of this extra charge.
At the same time, as I've processed this, I'm realizing that the majority of that "excessive damage" was done in that Bible's early years. I'm ashamed to confess that I'm not spending as much time in the word as I did 5-6 years ago.
My goal with my newly bound Bible is to have to get it rebound in 5 years, and to have another "excessive damage" charge.

National Treasure - Book of Secrets

My friend Corey reviewed this movie in this way:

Very entertaining. You can tell that the cast was having fun and not taking themselves to seriously. When you see them doing that, its hard not to yourself.

I agree with Corey's review.

A story I heard about about one of our students.

Katherine is in 8th grade.

Every year, Katherine's parents ask her to pay her own way to 3DYC if she would like to go. They provide work for her to get the money. This past summer, Katherine went with her family to Europe on a Short Term Missions Trip. While there, they visited an orphanage which absolutely captured Katherine's heart.

Katherine is in 8th grade.

This year, Katherine decided to use her money for 3DYC to buy clothes for the kids in that orphanage.

Katherine is in 8th Grade.

AWESOME!

A New Poll

Dustin Eby and Mike Griggs are the two student interns coming in every week with me. They are absolutely obsessed with chief meteorologist Rick Mecklenburg. On the way home, we got in a heated debate over who is the best meteorologist in our area.
The only way to solve this issue, once a gain... BLOG POLL.
Voting is open until January 7.

3DYC RETURN TIME UPDATE

Correction on pick-up time. We will be arriving at entrance E around 3:00 to 3:15

3YDC Return Time

We will be returning to the church around 3:30 p.m. You can pick up your student at Entrance E.

Nearing an end

My apologies for a real lack of posting. The fact that I stepped back on my role with the conference in a larger sense has freed up a lot of time for me to be hanging with students. That's the good part.
For you, the parents and readers, it has also taken me away from my time around the computer.

We have had a great time here this week.
The theme of Transformation has really struck a cord with our students.

Friday Night's session was about Transformation in our Hearts.
Our speaker, Stacy Foster shared his testimony with us and made the challenge through this statement: "God doesn't make winners or losers, he makes choosers". 2 of our students went forward to make a recommitment to Christ.

This Morning's session was about Transformation in our Actions.
Stacy shared the story of Saul's demise in I Samuel 15. The call was to make sure we are willing to "kill the good" in our life that is keeping us for fully living for Christ. Many students responded in recognition that they had something that they saw as "good" in their life that was being kept from God. Very awesome stuff.

Tonight's session was about Transformation in our Relationships.
It was most specifically about sexual purity. It was some great teaching. Again, many of our students responded to confess sexual immorality and/or to say they will seek out accountability.
We spent some time together as a youth group. At the close of the time, I asked the students to raise their hand if they had an area where they had been challenged in their walk with God AND a step they knew they needed to take in obedience. 90% of the students raised a hand.

We've laughed a lot. We've played a lot. We've worshiped a lot. We've slept very little.
God is good!


oh, and in case you're curious, my seminar went great. Three conversations after I dismissed clearly confirmed that God had a purpose in providing this opportunity to share.

Some Pictures

Session 1 and done

We're here and we're off to a great start. The Amway and Devos are very BIG and very cool.

This year's theme is "Transformation"... much of the focus is centered around Romans 12:1.
It's going to be a great time. More pics and updates coming later.

It's Early

Here we go!
Leaders are here meeting with Jason.
Kid's will be here in less than an hour.
Praying for a fun weekend with a ton of connecting with each other and God.

Curve Ball

Just got a call from Chris (our Jr. High Pastor, also Jr. High Session director at 3DYC). One of the Seminar speakers to the conference is not going to be able to make it due to family issues.

So what do you do when a crisis of this magnitude strikes?
You call up Derry and see if he can fill in!

Looks like I'll be breaking out the Unanswered Prayer material and doing a Seminar entitled "When God is Silent".

Grand Rapids, here we come!

Tomorrow, a little before 5:00 a.m., I'll to roll into the church to meet with our leaders.
The kids will start showing up at 6:00, and we'll roll out at 7:00 a.m.

Where are we heading... the same event we've headed to on December 28 for the past 11 years.
3DYC.
This year we head to a new location. The Amway Grand in Grand Rapids will be our home for the next few days.

Over this time, I will be posting updates (some text, photos, and maybe a video or two) from the event.

E.T. in 2008?

=?

The Water Horse hit the big screen yesterday. I'm intrigued by it. One advertisement I saw dubbed it as "This generation's E.T."
Nothing like sweeping statements in movie promotions.
But it did make me wonder...

How would E.T. fair in the 2008 movie market?

It seems that a movie has to be based on a book, a remake of a classic comic book, or a sequel to have box office success.

2008 Tech Predictions

YPulse is a regular blog stop for me. It's actually a blog setup up for youth media and marketing professionals.
It's not Christian-based site, yet is full of insight for those involved in Youth Ministry.

Ypulse founder Anastasia Goodstein posted her predictions on teens and technology for 2008. Very interesting stuff.

Hot for 2008 will be social networking for cell phones, more facebookers (less myspacers), and teens will start buying I-phones (as price goes down).

Not-hot for 2008 will be T.V., Myspace, and parents freaking out over Internet Safety.

Go here for the full, intriguing post.

Top 2007 - Movies

My Top 5 movies viewed in 2007:
(from 1 to 5 this time)





Honorable Mention:
Rattatoullie, Enchanted, Shrek the Third, and, believe it or not, Live Free or Die Hard (yes I liked it Phil, are you happy?)

Did not see, and wonder if they could crack my top 5...
Gone Baby Gone, American Gangster, Juno, August Rush, Across the Universe.


Top 5 Worst Movies I saw:
1. Pirates 3 (I'll take too many plot lines for $500 Alex)
2. Spiderman 3 (I'll take too many bad guys for $600 Alex)
3. 300 (THIS IS OVERRATED! I'll stick to Braveheart)
4. Evan Almighty (I know... blasphemy; but it just didn't deliver)
5. Blades of GLORY (Will Farrel either nails it or misses big... missed big on this one; and good call Jeff... I'll now take you back as a friend if you'll have me.)

Katylynn's 1st Christmas

Youttubesday - Linus sums it up

Merry Christmas

The poll is closed... Jason Bourne takes nearly 3/4 of the vote.
He, along with those of us at derryprenkert.blogspot.com wish you and yours a Merry Christmas.

Xanga Memories - Movie Blackout

As a Christmas present, I lined up babysitting with my mom and dad (really had to twist their arms to get them to do it - sarcasm) and took Janelle out to her choice of movie and dinner. She chose "I Am Legend" (loves Will Smith) and Hacienda. We headed to Showplace 16 in South Bend. Upon arrival, we were met with a sign on the door letting us know they were without power.
We had to head over to Cinemark 14 in Mishawaka.

This little adventure reminded me of another little adventure I had at Showplace in December 2005, which brings us to todays XANGA MEMORY!

DECEMBER 8, 2005 Xanga Entry:

Weirdest thing happened today. As you may or may not know, I enjoy going to movies during the day on may day off (which is Thursday). Today I decided to go and see Rent. It was about halfway in, and I was sitting there thinking, "Man, I wasted my money on this one." I usually enjoy musicals, but I was just very unimpressed.

So, just as I'm thinking this, the power goes out in the theater. I'm sitting in a theater, pitch black, with two ladies about three rows in front of me. So I go out in the lobby to find out what's up. There was only about 40 customers in the entire building. They said that Electric company was working on the lines in front of the theater, and all the power was out. They gave me a free pass to come back anytime to any movie I choose. So, now I'm going to go to the Chronicles of Narnia for free!

Movie Day

I AM entertained.

Christmas Lists - 12 days

Kenya Night Ideas...

This morning during our Youth Class Hour (the 9:30-10:30 service time) we pulled the Senior High together to brainstorm ideas for our upcoming Kenya Night... the following thoughts were overheard...

"We could take a wiffle ball bat and auction off a swing to hit me..."
"I could give my car and we could auction off opportunities to swing a bat at the car..."
"We could auction off boxing gloves and the winner would also get the rights to beat up Jeremy..."
I guess we had some extra violent students this morning.


Some others I heard:
"We have a goat we've been thinking about selling, maybe we could put it in the auction?"
"Our Small Group can offer up 6 hours of intensive work on any project the winning bidder has for us."
"Our Freshman guys group will all shave their legs, use the hair to stuff a pillow, and then put the pillow in the auction." (It's sick, but I love it!)
"We put two boxes in the auction. One is worthless, and the other has a valuable collectable item in it. You bid on either one, but you don't know which you'll get."

I love it when students start thinking outside the box. I love it even more when they do it in conjunction with coming behind two ministries that are seeking to share and live out the Gospel in Kenya!

Top 2007 - Top Reads

My top 5 reads of 2007...

Top 2007 - Best Movie?

In a previous post, I made the statement that The Bourne Ultimatum was the best movie of 2007. I went on to state that anyone who says otherwise is wrong. I knew this would stir the pot. I knew there would be those who would take exception to my sweeping statement.

And yes, it happened.
What movie was brought up as better than Bourne?
300?
Transformers?
Sweeney Todd?
No Country For Old Men?
I Am Legend?
Gone Baby Gone?

Oh no!
Live Free or Die Hard that has been proposed by one Phil Strahm (former NMC SOAR student); then supported by one Jeff Simpson (NMC supervolunteer, set up guru, and former friend due to his support of Phil).

Andrew Whitehead and Dan Weiss then came to the defense of Bourne.

Now, I can only think of one way to solve this significant controversy...A blog poll.
The poll is on the top right of this blog will remain up until 11:59 pm Christmas Eve. Yes, my friends, all will be resolved on Christmas day. Cast your vote, and don't disappoint me America!

Katylynn

It's becoming clear that www.janelleprenkert.blogspot.com
is the official Katylynn Ivy Prenkert blog.

Creating a Moment...

1. Take a ton of White Paper and put it up on the wall somewhere.
2. In Black Marker, write "You Are" along the top.
3. Lay out a bunch of highlighters.
4. During your worship set, invite the students to write one or two words to say who God is.
5. Pause for a time of prayer in groups.
6. During Prayer time, pull out black lights and place them in a manner to shine over your white paper.
7. Break back into a worship set with the song "How Great Is Our God".
8. When you reach the lines, "Name above all names..." cut all other lights, and allow the names of God students have written to shine bright.

Result - A powerful image (which they helped make) has been embedded in students' minds.

Feel free to take this idea, rip it off, and claim it as your own. Our idea was inspired by the Passion Conference!

A first

I just purchased a domain name.
$9.99 for a year from godaddy.com.
More on that domain name in the weeks and months to come.

Top 2007 - Top 10 Stories for Christians

Christianity Today released their Top 10 Stories of 2007

1. Taliban takes Korean short-term mission team hostage, killing two

2. Atheism tops the bestseller charts

3. Presidential campaigns start early, with some faith surprises

4. Ruth Graham promoted to glory

5. Anglican Communion fractures over Scripture, homosexuality

6. Three Christians tortured and killed in eastern Turkey

7. Lions of the Religious Right pass away

8. Francis Beckwith returns to Catholicism

9. Campaign to oust NAE’s Richard Cizik fails

10. Supreme Court upholds 2003 federal partial-birth abortion ban

Got this from Monday Morning Insight... a frequent read of mine.

Prayer for the Maasai Project

Kalyn Lantz is a Senior at Wawasee High School.
Kalyn is on their undefeated #1 ranked basketball team.
Kalyn is one of the ladies our daughter is named after.
Kalyn is a passionate Christ-Follower.
Kalyn is a leader.
At the same time, Kalyn is a normal High School girl.

When Caleb Bislow called me and asked if we (NMC) would be willing to run point on the Prayer Efforts to go behind the upcoming Exodus trip for the Maasai Project, I threw out a thought on a student leading it. He actually brought up Kalyn, and I fully agreed.

Caleb called Kalyn.
Kalyn freaked out and got overwhelmed.
Kalyn said yes.

themaasaiproject.blogspot.com is the home for the prayer efforts with the Maasai Project. Currently, we are rectuiting individuals to commit to pray and fast for the 40 days (March 6-April 14) leading into the Exodus. You can commit to one day, several days, one day out of the week every week; all 40 days... whatever.
We are dreaming that every day will have at least 40 people fasting and praying for the 40 days leading into the Exodus.

During the Exodus, the goal is to make sure someone is praying around the clock for the entire April 15-24 experience in Maasailand.

If your heart has, in any way, resonated with the efforts of the Maasai Project, go to the prayer site and get signed up for the 40 days of prayer and fasting!

Way to go Kalyn!

Lost; Season 4

1. Season 4 of Lost debuts January 31, 9:00 pm.
   
2. It will be on Thursdays, 9:00 pm... same time as The Office.
3. Due to the Writer's Strike, they will likely only air 8 episodes and leave us completely hanging.
4. Despite these facts, all I had to do was watch this 2 minute trailer to get absolutely pumped up for this show.
   

Awesome stuff.
Awesome Show.

Here Comes the Hobbit

News today that Peter Jackson will be executive producing The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien's book that preceded the Lord of the Rings. You can read stories here and here.
Apparently, there are going to be two movies made.

Here's what's interesting, The Hobbit is half the length of any of the three books that for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, yet they are going to make 2 movies out of the one book. Anybody else hear the cash register ringing?


One story reports...

Jackson and Walsh envisioned the first film covering the events of "The Hobbit" and the second bridging the 80-year gap between that novel and the first "Lord of the Rings" book.

Most Lord of the Rings nerds and Tolkien purists (of which I would call myself a novice) were very pleased at the level of loyalty Jackson showed to the books. There are plenty of appendices and stories that are highlighted in the 80-year gap, but I'm not sure how they're going to make a movie on actual stories that have been supplied by Tolkien. Personally, I would not enjoy a movie that is not based on any books.

Nontheless, I'm pretty pumped, and I'll be watching theonering.net over the next couple of years as directors and actors are announced, storyline theories run wild, and the geeks of the world unite!

Youtubesday - Illustrations

Last night on Monday Night Football, Tony Kornheiser explained how Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress used video footage from a African Safari as an illustration for his team. As Kornheiser explained the video, I think it had to be this youtube video that has had nearly 21 million views since it was posted in May.
The explanation of the video is:

A battle between a pride of lions, a herd of buffalo, and 2 crocodiles at a watering hole in South Africa's Kruger National Park while on safari.

Childress used the video to illustrate the power of team with his players. Individual Lions cannot match against the united efforts of the weaker buffalo.

As I watched the video, I thought it there was a lot of usage on this video in bringing light to the following scripture...

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
I Peter 5:8

Top 2007 - Two types of people

There are two types of people in this world.

Those who thought Bourne Ultimatum was the best movie this year, or those who are wrong.

A couple of pics

I'm learning there's very few things in this world better than this:


This is one of those that is worth at least a thousand words to me:

Kenya Night Spreading

Tonight I meet with 10 students who will be playing point as Coordinators in specific categories concerning Kenya Night. The 3 students who are coordinating the night out of our office will be working with these 10 who will in turn be working with their own teams. These teams will be putting in time and efforts to prepare for the event starting as soon as January 1.

Other students will be able to get involved in one-time acts of service including cooking items for a bake sale, donating an item to be auctioned, or giving a donation at the door to the event.

Exciting. I love it when vision begins to leak out.

Let It Snow(blower)

Just got done shoveling the driveway. One of my favorite aspects of our house is the 2 single car garage and wide driveway. It's great to park both our cars inside for the night. It's great to have room for 6-8 cars to park on our property on a given night. It's great to have both cars protected from getting covered in snow. The problem is that the drive still gets covered in snow.

We have a snowblower.
It turns on half the time.
If the snow is too packed or thick, it doesn't work.

Today, it wouldn't turn on. As I moved to the shovel, I realized it wouldn't have mattered if it did.
The snow looks absolutely beautiful, and my first 15 minutes of shoveling were quite exhilirating.
The last 45 minutes were a test of what a cold, snowy hell might be. I had to type this entire post with my right hand because my left arm has gone completely numb.

I'm staying in my house and drinking hot chocolate for the rest of the day.

Afternoon visits.

At 2:00 pm I was feeding Katylynn when we got a knock on our door. We have had many visitors over the days since bringing her home, so Janelle ran to the door without much thought. The guys at the door were unfamiliar, but wanted to just ask a few questions. After about 5 minutes, it became unfortunately clear that we had been attacked by the Kirby salesmen.
It's 4:45, and they are finally winding down. I guess our front carpet is clean, so that's cool. At one point, I was thinking about just walking into the kitchen, and walking through holding the meat cleaver with a big smile on my face.
Ah, Kirby guy, thanks for 3 hours lost on a Saturday afternoon.

A Movie that Intrigues me....

Juno is a dramedy about a pregnant teen who decides to place her child in adoption.

Janelle and I are looking forward to seeing this movie. It opened on Friday... but in "select theaters". Unfortunately, none of the theaters in our area have been selected.

Xanga Memories - Busy?

Written December 19, 2005 on my xanga blog... thought it was fitting for this time of year.

So the following scenerio probably happened over a million times across the U.S. today. Two people cross paths.
Person 1: hey, how's life?
Person 2: great thanks. How are you?
Person 1: Good. Man, I'm busy. Lot's of stuff going on. Are you keeping busy?
Person 2: Oh yeah. All kinds of things happening.

So here's my questions...
Is busy good?
Are we really that busy?
Is busy a badge we should wear or is it a curse that we carry?

So there's a story about St. Francis of Assisi. He is one of my heros. Wrote "All Creatures of our God and King." Anyway, he was a passionate, intimate follower of Christ. The story is told that one day while he was working in his garden, one of his disciples asked him, "What would you do if you found out Christ was going to return tomorrow?"

His answer: "I'd keep working in my garden."

How passionate am I right now?
How content am I?
Do I need more activities in my life?
Do I need more stuff?
Do I need more projects?

Or do I just need more Jesus?

My thoughts tonight. Somewhat random, but all reminding me that it's pretty easy to get out of focus...

Daft Hands - Amazing

The Maasai Project Strategy

Caleb Bislow is the real deal.
He is my friend.
He inspires me.
He challenges me.

Caleb has taken his life and laid it on the line for the sake of those who have not heard of Christ. This is evident in The Maasai Project.

In April 2008, leg three of this project kicks in. Over on his website, he's posted an audio/visual presentation of the Maasai Strategy. Take a 1/2 hour and check it out here.

Be inspired.
Be challenged.
Consider how you can be involved.

Everything changes...

Over the past month I feel like everything has changed. That change can be zeroed in around a single event... Katylynn entering our life.

It's interesting how few moments like this are in our lives. For me, I can think of 2 events that are at the same level.

September 9-13, 1995 - September 9th I privately turned my life fully over to Christ. September 13, I went public. Everything changed. I often refer to it as the time where Jesus wrecked my life.
It changed the way I viewed and interacted with this world.
It changed the way I approached my decisions.
It changed the course of my future.
It seems impossible to live my life without Jesus invading the space in some way or another... and I love it!!!

May 6, 2000 - I said "I do" to Miss Janelle Lister. She became Janelle Prenkert. Two became one. Everything changed. It was no longer about "I" and "me", it was about "us" and "we".
It changed the way I viewed and interacted with this world.
It changed the way I approached my decisions.
It changed the course of my future.
It seems impossible to live my life without Janelle invading the space in some way or another... and I love it.

Now, Katylynn is here. I'm a dad. We're parents to her. At night, when I get up and feed her, I often find myself just staring into her face thinking about nothing will ever be the same.
I can't view and interact with this world in the same way.
I can't approach my decisions the same way.
I can't view the future the same way.
I don't want to live my life without Katylynn invading the space in some way or another... this is awesome!!!

Christmas Lists - I've Never

In a continued effort to cross-breed every series I've ever done. Here's a list of some common Holiday activities I've never taken part in...

I've Never-

• Received or eaten a fruitcake.
• Drank eggnog.
• Been Christmas Caroled to (at Christmas time... a Small Group of students came caroling in May once).
• Chopped down a Christmas tree.
• Eaten chestnets roasted on an open fire (I don't think I've ever eaten chestnuts at all).
• Been on a one-horse open sleigh.
• Left cookies and milk out for Santa Clause (I might have left him cheese and crackers once)
• Played Joseph in a Christmas musical. I always got stuck being a shepherd (I'm still a little bitter about it)... but that one's about to change. This weekend Derry is Joseph, Janelle is Mary, and Katylynn is baby Jesus at the NMC Choir Musical this weekend. Oh yeah! Blond Hair, blue eyed Mary and Joseph, and female baby Jesus!
  

Christmas Lists - Overlooked

As we head into the Christmas season, we will likely run across the Christmas story (meaning the story of the birth of Christ) in multiple venues and multiple forms...
In a church, on the TV, sitting around the dinner table, or in our own personal Time Alone With God.

This year in my own devotional journy, I've been trying to focus in on the often overlooked (or read without much thought) elements of the Birth story. Here's my little list of these elements that I've taken time to study on and meditate over...

• There is a 500 year gap between Malachi and Matthew... God sits silent in the time leading up to the birth of Christ.
• Mary was most likely a teenager (some say as young as 12, but most would agree between 14-17)
• There was "no room" for a pregnant woman in her final trimester in her pledged-husband's home town.
• Jesus was a bastard child.
• Jesus first resting place was a feeding trough for livestock.
  
• The Wise men came later (they weren't at the stable), we don't know how many there were, and they were likely from a different religion.
• Shepherds (low-end sociologically) were the first to divinely hear of the birth.

Wednesday Recap - Activities and causes

Last Night we closed out the Move In Our World series by setting up the round tables. We had students sit in their Small Groups. If someone was not a part of a Small Group, they could join a friend that has a Small Group, or head to one of several tables we had ready for those not in Small Groups. In an effort to leave plenty of time for discussion, we did no music.


The focus on the night came out of a story told of Mother Teresa's reply to an individual who wrote her advice on how to join in her efforts. Her reply back included the statement, "Find your own Calcutta."

Students went through a little exercise where they thought of one activity they love to do, and one cause or issue they are extremely passionate about.

We took a look at Colossians 3:23 and then considered these two questions:

1. How can I glorify God in the activity I love to do?
2. How can I glorify God through the cause that I'm passionate about?

Then, the big question...
How can I combine the activity I love to do with the cause that I'm passionate about to glorify god and advance His Kingdom.

We took a look at some individuals who have done this...

• David was a shepherd boy who seemed to enjoy using his slingshot. He was passionate about making sure the God he served was known to be the one true God. These two combined the moment he brought down Goliath.
  
• Caleb Bislow loves adventerous travel and is passionate about sharing the Gospel in dark places. Those two have combined to become The Maasai Project. This included a phone call to Caleb in Colorado to talk about what's going on right now with the project.
  
• Kristen loves to draw. Something hit her concerning The Maasai Project. Those two combined as she drew a picture of a Maasai and it was auctioned off on Maasai Night. The proceeds went to the Maasai Project.
• We closed by watching this video about Austin Gutwein and Hoops 4 Hope; a 12 year old who's taken his love for basketball and passion to assist those in Africa suffering the effects of AIDS.

The conversations I have had as a result of this series have been extremely encouraging. Teens really trying to wrestle through how they can partner with God to change the World... and I'm stupid enough to believe they can!

Top 2007 - Lists Galore

I have spent the majority of the morning checking out Time Magazine's 50 Top 10 lists of 2007.
50 top 10 lists under 5 categories...

• News
• Arts and Entertainment
• Science
• Business, Tech, and Sports
• Pop Culture

Some of list lists I found especially enjoyable...

• Top 10 Underreported News Stories.
• Top 10 Religion Stories.
• Top 10 Oddball News Stories.
• 2 different guys top 10 movies (here and here)
  sidenote - I've only seen one of the movies listed.
• Top 10 New TV shows.
• Top 10 Returning TV shows.
• Top 10 Sports Matches.
• Top 10 Sports Moments.
• Top 10 Viral Videos.

If your a lists buff, and you have plenty of time to kill, it's a great stop.

Also, while preparing this posts, I caught this site off Corey Mann's blog with even more top 2007 lists.

Weight

50 lbs - That's approximately what my head feels like it weighs right now.

2 lbs - That's the amount of "stuff" I'm estimating has been blown or leaked from my nose so far this morning.

Enjoy the mental image!!

Top 2007 - Moments

Best Movie Moment - Bourne Ultimatum... so many great moments, but I'm going to go with bourne/vosen phone call in New York.




Best Television Moment -
Tie... Michael Scott follows GPS Navigation system into a lake.



Lost Season 3 finale (spoiler alert... season 3 ending revealed)




Best Sports Moment - Colts Super Bowl Victory


Best Youth Ministry Moment - Maasai Night



Funnest Youth Ministry Moment - Tie... Summer Camp Boat Race and "Cowbell Night"

Best Derry/Janelle traveling moment - Surprising my wife with a trip to Las Vegas


Best All-around moment of 2007 - Holding my daughter for the first time.

Fun Meetings/ Ownership

Meetings are very rarely fun to me. Yesterday, I had two that just floored me.

The first was with our 3 student interns. They are going to be leading the charge on what we've tentatively billed as "Kenya Night".

The night will be a follow up to last year's "Maasai Night" where we sought to raise awareness, prayer support, and funds for Caleb Bislow's ministry efforts to the Maasai in Kenya.
This year we will be seeking to once again come behind the Maasai Project, and also the AGC Abandoned Baby Center which our church has a significant partnership with.

The meeting was exciting as we worked out a timeline on all the different aspects of the night. The three students found themselves confused, overwhelmed, exciting, and totally bought in to the vision and goal to be a part of something bigger than themselves. They want to pull back together today as we seek to determine a team of 10-15 students they will be working with who will in turn be working with their own teams. Students leading students who are leading students. That's exciting.

Then in the evening, a Senior gal came over to our house. She is going to be the point person on all the prayer support that will be going on with the Maasai Project. The goal is to have individuals committed to pray and fast for the 40 days leading into the Project, as well as around the clock prayer and fasting going on during the project.
Once again, it was exciting to see her own this opportunity to be a part of something bigger than her.

Ownership... when students take it, crazy things start happening!

More Doggie/ Daughter Time

Youtubesday - Top 2007 Musical Talents

My picks for most impressive musical talents found on Youtube in 2007...


Beatboxer #1 (from French Idol):




Beatboxer #2 (flute beat boxer):




2 guys, 1 guitar:



2 guitars, 1 guy:




And, my favorite music video of the year, Awakening by Switchfoot.

Two Shootings at Ministries in Colorado

A YWAM campus and New Life Church both had shootings, 5 dead (including a gunmen), 5 wounded.
Sad.
Story here.

Christmas Lists - Songs

A list (not fully comprehensive) of my more favorite Christmas tunes:

• O Come Let Us Adore Him
• Go Tell it On the Mountain
• Little Drummer Boy
• Christmas Time is Here (by the Chipmunks)
• White Christmas
• Joy to the World
• Jingle Bells (even though it really says nothing about Christmas)

My all time favorite is O Holy Night. Even after hearing this version.

I Hope I Honored You.

We haven't been together since I lost you that fateful night, October 18. I'm waiting for your return some time next year. As I've considered visiting one of your brothers or sisters. It's just that I don't want to offend you.
But yesterday, as I was driving in South Bend, I realized a visit to your brother would not offend you. Quite the contrary. I would be honoring you.

I took that T1 with a Wild Cherry Pepsi in remembrance of you, Nappanee Taco Bell. I ate it, and I loved it, all the while remembering the times we've spent together, and the times we will soon be spending together again.

I did it because I love you.
I did it because I missed you.
I did it because I was hungry.
I hope you understand.

Top 2007 - Quotes

Some of the best quotes I've heard in 2007 (in no particular oder)...

We must relearn what it means to have prayer at the center of mission, and mission at the center of prayer.
-Pete Grieg in Red Moon Rising

Pray that the Sun will never set on the effects of your ministry.
-Greg Despres at NYGO.

Waaa... gurgle, gurgle, slurp, grunt (paraphrased)
-Katylynn Ivy Prenkert

"I don't think this is an accident that all these people have been brought together. I cannot believe that God would bring all of these people… with all of these resources… and talents and abilities…and that the ultimate thing that would happen in our midst is that we all feel better about ourselves.

I have to believe that God has brought this many people with this many backgrounds together to affect massive change in our culture that would lead to people saying 'JESUS IS REAL.'"
-Rob Bell on Mars Hill Bible Church's current efforts to engage poverty and the oppressed in their community.

"I've invested two months of planning into this night. I can't miss this opportunity to invest in the kingdom because of a basketball game."
-Dustin, a student in our ministry after finding out his snowed-out basketball game had been rescheduled to the same date as Maasai Night.

Every one of the above statements brought about significant change in the way I approach life and/or ministry.

Christmas Lists - Lights

In the unfortunate reality that I am bound to offend someone reading this, I present to you a short list of rules concerning outdoor Christmas decorations...

You've gone too far with your outdoor Christmas Decorations if:

• each year, you budget extra for your December electric bill.
• both Santa and baby Jesus are present in your yard (especially if Santa is looking down at baby Jesus).
• An air pump has been used as a part of your assembly.
• If there's anything on your roof (hanging from roof=good; on top of roof=bad).
  
• I need sunglasses to look.
• the decorations in any way incorporate a motor.
• you have audible decor (meaning it eminates music).
• you didn't have to set up this year, but still have decorations up for Christmas this year.
• anybody comments that your outside decorations "are... interesting".

Once again this wonderful Christmas Season, I give you uglychristmaslights.com

Sir Links a Lot

• Jeff Simpson gets his Grinch name here (mine is Miserlygrinch Fussyfinger)
• Josh Griffin gives some great family games for Dinner Time here.
• Dan Weiss has an 3 year old evangelist on his hands here.
• Marko shows off a variety of Nativity Scenes here.
• Chris Knight shares a gas pumpimg pet peeve here. (totally with you on this one Chris)
• Caleb Bislow looks at the top 10 countries for persecuting Christians here.
  

Prince Caspian Trailer

I love the Narnia books. I think they are extremely hard to bring to the big screen. They did okay (not bad, but not great) with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Watching this trailer got me excited about Prince Caspian.

Molding Young Minds

I've spent the morning and early afternoon up at my alma mater, Bethel College. The one and only Terrence D. Linhart (would put a link to his blog here, but he has left the blog world) asked me to a couple of "guest teaching" spots in the Foundations in Youth Ministry Class.
Today we looked at parent/youthworker relationships and how to navigate them. It was a good time of discussion.

This is the first time I've been up since they've put in the new main entrance off Logan Street. Pretty sweet feel to it.

Youtubesday - Top 2007

For Youtubesday until the end of the year, I'm going to offer my Top 2007 videos in various categories. Today, all the "dumbest" videos:

Best dumb but very effective commercial 2007
Filet O' Fish



Best dumb guy in a commercial 2007...
Southwest "Wii" commercial:



Best Dumb Beauty contestant video 2007...
Miss Teen South Carolina, U.S. Map and "South Africa, the Iraq"


Best dumb guy Idea:
Let's strap my girlfriend to a bungee rope and a four wheeler and see what happens...




Best Celebrity Dumb moment:
Kelly Pickler on Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader:

Bad Link

I put up a bad link to get to Janelle's story below. I fixed it. Go read it. It's awesome!

Sharing a Moment

Janelle and Katylynn shared "a moment" yesterday. Grab some Kleenex and check it out here.

Storytime

Pastor Dave highlighted the Story of Katylynn in the service this morning. For those interested in retracing my journey in the silence of God, read here.
For those interested in seeing the answer, read here.

Both sets of posts are best to read in reverse.

Same Message, New Spot.

As we were planning for Student Minsitries Fall Semester in late August, I decided that I would be willing to dive into the topic of Unanswered Prayer with our students. I really sensed God leading me toward taking on the topic through the pain of Janelle and my personal journey in not being able to have a baby. As I explained it to the guys in our Young Adults program, they asked if I'd be willing to come in and share the same stuff at The Efffect, our Sunday Night Young Adult gathering.

It was at the end of September when I spoke to the Senior High. We were in the early stages of pursuing the adoption route. There were major question marks. I was diving into Unanswered Prayer with a high level of personal identity and experience on the side of silence and the unknown.

Tonight, I share with the Young Adults. I have a baby girl. In some ways, I am looking back on this topic with results. It's a tricky spot. Those whom Unanswered Prayer will most likely resonate with are likely in the midst of it.

Thank God the Holy Spirit has much more to do with this stuff than I do.

Christmas Lists - Movies

This is a repost from last year, but it only makes sense to start the Christmas lists series with this one. Here is my top 5 Christmas Movies...

5. Simon Birch - It's probably my favorite movie of all listed, but it's not completely a Christmas movie as the storyline spans throughout a year. It does, however, have one of the greatest Christmas scenes ever made. The church Christmas show gone wild makes me laugh every time I watch it.





4. Elf - "You sit on a throne of lies." It's just got some classic scenes. Outside of Stranger than Fiction (which is in a category of it's own), this is my personal favorite of the Will Farrell movies. You cotton-headed-ninning-muggins.




3. Die Hard - Your classic Christmas story... Nothing says Happy Holidays like washed up cop teams up with rent-a-cop to overthrow evil terrorists diabolical plan to blow up a building and make a ton of money. But it happens on Christmas Eve, so I'm counting it as a Christmas movie.





2. A Christmas Story - I watch this one almost every December. Some classic scenes in this one as well.
The flag pole.
The lamp.
The snowsuit.
Fa ra ra ra ra ra.. ra ra ra ra.
"Oh Fudge."
"You'll shoot your eye out, kid."

1. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - Watch this one almost every December as well. I laugh out loud every time I watch it. I personally find this to be the funniest of the Vacation movies as well. Don't we all have a Cousin Eddy in our lives?




Man, I guess I don't get in to the traditional warm fuzzy Christmas movie. I'm definitely not the only one with opinions on this one. For others top Christmas movies, check here.
What are your's?